Last year, I signed up for Me-Made-May. This is hosted by Zoe from So, Zo, What Do You Know? I tried but it didn’t go so well as I found I didn’t really have an awful lot of stuff I’d made!

So this year I am trying again. More to show myself what I need to make to fill the gaps in my wardrobe! But it’s a bit of fun, so here goes…this is my Me Made May pledge!‘I, Lucy, of luckybearnorfolk (www.luckybearnorfolk.com), sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’16. I endeavour to wear something I have made, altered or refashioned each day for the duration of May 2016’.

This will include accessories as well as clothes. I will post some photos on at least a weekly basis to show you what I’m wearing! Yesterday I started it off with a Coco dress I made last month. It’s quite a thick jersey but the British spring weather is so changeable that I’m sure I’ll be wearing it more than once in May! I totally forgot, however, to take a photo until husband was out at a gig and son was in bed, so have had to take some pretty poor selfies that only show bits of it. Must do better from now on!

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Half term. Family time but also a little bit of time for sewing! Yes, I need to make stock for the Etsy shop and upload it – and for the bricks & mortar shop (Norwich Gift Emporium). But I also wanted to indulge in a bit of me-sewing. I have a few garment patterns now (for “few”, read “far too many but still probably not enough”!) and I have been thinking about what to make next for a while. So I decided on some selfish sewing to boost my me-made wardrobe.

So I got out my collection and had a rummage through. Should I go indie or big-name pattern house? I initially decided to make a quick and simple “Sewing time: 1 hour” A-line skirt (it’s NEVER 1 hour, believe me!) but to my dismay, the lovely piece of fabric I’d had in mind was too small, as the print only runs one way (will have to save it for something else!) So I put that away and instead got out the Dottie Angel frock pattern (Simplicity 1080) that I bought on impulse a few weeks ago. I have many Pinterest pins of this dress and thought it looked really cute and simple to make. I kinda like the quirky Dottie Angel look and thought I’d have a go. A quick, fun sewing project, thought I!

How mistaken I was! This was probably one of my most-hated of sewing projects to date. I can’t say what went wrong, as it does seem to be quite a simple pattern. I thought I had measured faithfully and I chose the slightly larger size according to one of my measurements (having been stung by another dress earlier in the week being a tad too small – more of that another time!) and yanked a couple of batik prints out of my stash. One of them was surely intended to be a tablecloth! A bit of a mish-mash, but I thought “quirky in the style of Dottie Angel!”

I followed the pattern instructions to the letter but found it not really very pleasurable to make. At all. And because it only comes together at the last two seams, it was impossible to fit as I went along, unlike other dresses I’ve made. So at the end, I was faced with lots of adjustings because it was absolutely enormous and made me look like a sack of potatoes. Meh. It also calls for lots of bias binding to bind the pockets, neckline, armholes, etc. I’m not keen on bound armholes!

I redid the side seams five times – yes FIVE! – in order to get it down to something passable. I have hacked away about 3cm off each side to try to fit it, which is quite a lot! And I hated the long-ness of it. Yes, length is in right now, the midi is a bit of a fashion thing, but I personally don’t like wearing things that long. So I whipped off about 15cm from the length too, because I prefer things ‘bove the knee. So now it’s a roomy, slouchy kinda house-dress/tunic-thing, with ties that pull it back (which to my tastes are waaaay too long), and it’ll probably look better layered, I guess. I think it’s something you might wear down the allotment. With your wellies and some chunky hand-knitted boot socks. And maybe a more earth-mothery kind of girl might suit it better. But is it really my sort of thing? I am not even really sure I will wear it (I’ll let you know if I do!) I think I’m maybe more of a fitted dress or shift kinda gal! I have put a couple of pictures to show you (front and back views) – which look ok I suppose. But I’m just not totally sold on it at the moment. And it doesn’t fit me as well as the ones fit those lovely models on the pattern pack! #storyofmylife

Do you chaps ever have things that you make and once they’re made, you’re like “Oh. Underwhelming.”? Or have you had any disasters? I am still learning how to “do” clothes, rather than bags, and I suppose this was a good learning tool. I do learn something new every time I make a new garment. Not sure whether to have another go in the smaller size, with fabrics that I love more, to try to get a better fit, or just to forget it! Or to make the shorter tunic version (which is almost what this turned out to be, as I chopped so much off the bottom!) Would love to know if anyone else has made this pattern, and how you got on with it.

***PRE-PUBLICATION UPDATE*** Wore it today. Mostly because it was Sunday and I knew I wasn’t going anywhere where anyone could see me, so thought “What the hell!” I wore it with opaque green tights and a slouchy navy cardi, and a chunky ethnic-type ceramic pendant. It’s really comfy, and I think I might actually like it a bit! It is growing on me! Just not really an enjoyable make. Maybe the second time might be easier, now I know what I’m doing…

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Last time I showed you my new lunchbag. I have had some really lovely comments from lots of people about it, both online and in the flesh, and it is proving to be a very useful little number! It fits all my lunch, snacks and my flask too. Well done me!

The next thing I’d like to show you is my new tea cosy. I was given a gorgeous new teapot for Christmas from my Mum & Dad. Black and white stripes with a red lid. Now, I do believe that a teapot needs a cosy, and my existing one is now quite a few years old, and being made of felt (albeit washable), it is now a bit tired and tatty. A new teapot is a good time to make a new tea cosy, n’est pas?

So I hauled out some black & white stripe fabric and thought it should have a splash of red too. I made one in my “More tea Vicar?” design – I sold a few of these last year and always wanted to make one of my own!

I’m a little teapot…and here is my cosy friend!

I now need to make a cafetiere cosy. Shall I make one to match, I wonder? (PS If you like these cosies and need one, you can get them in my Etsy shop or I have some for sale in the Norwich Gift Emporium. I am going to upload some new ones very soon – once I get the photos done! You can, of course, always commission me to make one for you – just let me know! Soon you will have a well-dressed teapot (or cafetiere) that will keep your cuppa hotta longa!

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I’ve had a lovely weekend of spending time with my family and friends, and making things too! With only a couple of days to go before the term begins again in earnest, I felt like I needed to make some more stuff! I’m going to show you the first now.

Before Christmas, I threw my three-year-old lunchbag away, tattered and torn, with a broken zip and peeling, frayed edges, in the hope that it would force me to make another one before I went back to work in January. Guess what? I forgot about it until yesterday!

So I thought it would be the perfect project for my lovely fabric from my Secret Santa. I’m in a Craft club that meets monthly and we decided this year to exchange crafty Secret Santa gifts at our Christmas ‘do’. I was delighted with mine (you can’t go wrong for me with anything sewing-related, and fabric, well….!) I received a sweet bundle of cute fabrics, all tied with a piece of lovely chunky yarn. Delish!

A lovely bundle

Unwrapped!

I was under strict instructions to use it to make something for myself, rather than other people! So here is the finished item. I wanted something much bigger than my old one, and open at the top rather than zipped, so that I could carry leftovers in various-sized plastic tubs, my coffee flask, etc. I am really pleased with the result and can’t wait to use it tomorrow! I often take cutlery and have just been throwing it into my bag, so I also made a little cutlery pouch out of the lining fabric. I had some cute fox ribbon in my stash (from Material Magic), so added that to some polka dot handles.

Thank you Secret Santa, for my lovely fabric! Hope you like what I’ve done with it! 🙂

Happy back-to-work day to you all for tomorrow. I’ll post the next thing I made for myself next time!

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A very belated hello to everyone. I have really neglected this blog over the last few months, because of a new job and busy family life, not to mention the actual sewing itself! I am planning to restart a regular blog today, it being New Year and all, and hope to be able to keep you up to date with my sewing shenanigans.

I spent some precious hours before and during the Christmas holidays catching up on some of the orders I received beforehand. So I have been busy trying to make them all! These included laptop & iPad cosies, totes, pencil cases and cafetiere cosies. I also made some presents for my Mum and Dad for Christmas. As usual, I was there frantically trying to get them finished in the few days before Christmas! Nothing like a bit of last-minute panicking to focus the mind!

This year I have had a couple of things that were particularly popular. See photos! I had some black & white stripe fabric which was lovely but I felt was calling out for a splash of red – so I made little pouches & purses with a red felt heart applique. They sold pretty much straight away, so I will be making some more soon! Also ever-popular is the cute fox fabric. This has been requested as purses, pouches, bags and aprons this year! I am going to source more as it is well-loved. Who doesn’t love a cute little fox?

I am always happy to take orders! At the moment I am working on some things made with a map print for a couple of people.

I have also picked up crochet this year and have made 2 felted bowler hats and am in the middle of my first big project – Attic 24’s Cosy Stripe blanket. It is lovely and a good project for the winter months – the benefit being that it allows me to sit and catch up with TV while still creating! (Have worked my way through Seasons 1-5 of Mad Men so far!) The colours are gorgeous and it is a very satisfying and lovely thing to do! I will post photos another time of my hooking adventures!

So this is just a quick hello to everyone – please follow my blog if you can this year – I promise to try harder and do it more regularly! Happy New Year to you all – hope your 2016 is filled with fun, friends, family and fulfillment. (And for me, I’d add – fabric!)

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My son Jack was born by emergency c-section in 2009 and was cared for by the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Wow – what a mouthful…from hereon in, we’ll call it by its better-known abbrevation, “NICU”.

So grateful were we for its amazing care, which has meant that Jack has developed into a happy, healthy nearly-six-year-old boy, that it has become an annual event for us to hold a coffee & crafts morning to raise valuable funds to help them in their work. This year we held it on the 8th August.

So we have been making (me, bags & pouches; my mum, jewellery) and baking to get ready. I was, as usual, nervous that we: a) wouldn’t get enough people come, b) not have enough cake for those that did venture out and c) have a rainy day with everyone cramped indoors. However, after all day spent in the kitchen making cakes, I checked the forecast and could cease being anxious about the latter.

Saturday arrived, bright and warm, and once we’d rushed around getting everything set up, our invited guests arrived. In their dozens! We probably had over 80 people, which is amazing. People bought bags, purses, jewellery, jam, books and clothes. Bargains were had by all. There was a raffle with prizes donated by friends and local businesses, which was really popular. But we were most humbled by the amount people donated just for coffee & cakes (although they were quite scrummy, even if I do say so myself!)

On the day, with all the stalls & cakes taken into account, we raised just over £1000 – £1005 to be precise! And there is a bit more than £100 donated on the NICU Just Giving website in honour of our coffee morning. If you go on the site, you will see that our Jack is the baby in the cover photo!

Once again, then, a massive THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who helped us be so successful, including our volunteer helpers on the day, friends and local businesses who donated goods and prizes, and of course you lovely people that came, ate cake, drank coffee and were totally amazing in your generosity.

The NICU were thrilled – Louise Cook the fundraising manager tweeted to say how pleased they were. Now looking forward to next year! Any suggestions for different things for me to make?!

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Over the past few weeks, I have done 3 different events. The first was the Norwich Lanes Fayre, which I wrote about last time. Despite the early rain, the day was quite successful. This put me in a positive frame of mind for the next 2 events.

Sadly, they were a washout – without a drop of rain in sight, so a metaphorical washout rather than an actual one! I think a case of right weather, right products and the wrong crowd! A real shame but on the plus side I did get to sit and spend “quality time” (hate that phrase!) with my lovely Mum, so not all bad! Despite her only living about 20 minutes away, we don’t see a lot of each other as both have busy lives.

So, we’ve come to the conclusion that the Lanes Fayre is a go, but that school things and fun days are not. We will do Christmas ones but that’s about it. I need to concentrate now on the online shop and the bricks & mortar one in town. I am also looking forward to having my stall at my upcoming NICU fundraising coffee morning (back by popular demand!) So anyone wanting to make some early Christmas purchases (sorry for mentioning the C-word!) can come along and browse. The cow print is proving to be popular and will be available in pencil case, purse and makeup pouch!

My challenge: One year - I will not buy clothes - I will upcycle to make what I need - everything from underwear to evening wear! Join me for tips, exclusive BrawHem makes, and inevitably some hilarious disasters...